Abstract:Objective To study the clustering and influencing factors of Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage among kindergarten children, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention of pneumococcal diseases. Methods The multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used to collect nasal swabs via the nasal vestibule at both sides from 1 702 kindergarten children in Liuzhou, China. A questionnaire survey was performed on their parents. The chisquare test and the random effects logistic regression analysis were used to analyze data. Results The carriage rate of Streptococcus pneumoniae was 13.16%(224/1 702) among kindergarten children. The clustering analysis showed that the class-level random effect of Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage was statistically significant(Z=2.07, P=0.038), with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 5.9%. The random effects logistic regression analysis showed that the children aged 5-7 years had a lower risk of Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage than those aged 2-<5 years(OR=0.55, 95%CI: 0.40-0.76, P=0.001), and the children with ≥5 family members living together had a higher risk of Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage than those with <5 family members(OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.01-1.79, P=0.043). Conclusions Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage shows a class-level clustering effect, and age and the number of cohabitants are important influencing factors for Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage in children.
